Writing a novel (or a screenplay) is almost like learning a new language. There are things you must learn to do in most novels, such as building conflict, direct from the pen, etc. I’ve gotten very good at learning to manipulate the required things that make both novels and screenplays work.
One thing you must use is a combination of character types. Dramatica Theory (the basis behind the highly recommended but VERY expensive software Dramatica) actually recommends 8 essential character types that make novels work.
In some cases, if you’re clever enough, you can combine one or two of the character types, to save on the work it takes and keep page counts down (this from a man whose first draft of his first novel was 220,000 words!). Not every novel is a “Hero’s Journey”, but about 80% of the novels out there today are essentially hero’s journey, or derivatives within different genres. I’ll say that in many ways, the novel you’re working on doesn’t have the Discovery, the Quest, The Harship, etc… but even in the most unlikeliest novels and scrreenplays, you’re going to find almost all of the elements of the Hero’s Journey, including Die Hard, Home Alone and Tootsie.
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What are the essential character types that Dramatica theory tells us we need? Let’s start with the obvious first, and we’ll use Die Hard to illustrate the character roles.
- The Protagonist. You gotta have your main character! In Die Hard, it’s John McLain, in Finding Nemo it’s Marlin.
- The Antagonist. In some works, there is no easily defined antagonist. Jaws, for example, had a shark. And one movie I’ve seen the antagonist literally was a storm at sea. But in those cases, there’s usually a human who is “Lesser Antagonist” worked in to create conflict. In Die Hard, of course, the antagonist is Hans.
- The Impact Character. The impact character serves as the conscience of the protagonist. In Die Hard, it was the LAPD cop who stayed on the radio with McLain. At some point, the theme of the novel or movie has to be stated, and it’s almost always the impact character who states it to the protagonist. The Impact Character in Finding Nemo was Dory.
- Reason. The Reason character is the one who keeps the often overly emotional protagonist grounded. In Die Hard, it was played by McLain’s wife Holly – in a unique twist she was unable to communicate with McLain during the movie – so she served to keep the reason part by dealing with Hans.
- Cotagonist. This role can be split up by several people, to keep the cotagonist from overshadowing the antagonist! Essentially, he is the support/foil for the antagonist. Do they help, hinder, get things done? In Die Hard, this was split among several other people.
- Skeptic. The “You’ve got to prove it to me” Character. They help highlight your protagonists brilliance. The LAPD captain who talks to McLain on the radio fills this role.
- Guardian. The guardian of knowledge is the usual role this person plays. When you have to find a secret that nobody can discover (it’s easy to paint yourself into a corner), you neatly tie it up by having one point of the story be to seek this person out. In Die Hard, it was the hacker Theo who deals out the hidden knowledge as required.
- Sidekick. The sidekick serves as the person the protagonist often confides in. In Die Hard, this was combined in with the impact character. Indeed, this is the only real weakness in the Dramatica Theory is the recognition that not every one of the 8 required characters is actually required! In many stories two or more character types are split up.
You may encounter some of the characters only once in a story, such as the guardian. In Finding Nemo of course, the guardian was played by Crush the Turtle, and that was a brief encounter.
Conclusion
Dramatica Theory is a theory of course, and not a science. But by experimenting with these characters, you can find that you can for instance add that plot movement you needed to get going, can unlock a plot point, and help plot out your novel easier.
Who are the essential characters in your novel, and what part do they play?
